Dogs are…..

Opportunistic eaters – Quick as a wink they’ll eat that sandwich you left on the coffee table.

Scavengers – They are forever sniffing around…usually looking for food.

Why is it important to know these things about our dogs? So we can expect them to exhibit their instinctive behavior. So that we can prevent them from inappropriate expression of this behavior. So we can provide outlets for them for that behavior.

We can give our little predators fun things to chase. We know to prevent them from chasing the cat, kids and cars. We can play tug with them. If weplay by the rules…first teaching those rules to the dog…we give him a great, energy burning predatory actvity.

We can give our dissecters safe things to pull apart. Why not give your predator a job? Stuff his meals in a Kong and have him take a good, long time at aquiring his calories. We have to feed the dog anyway. It’s a good time to keep him stimulated, busy and out of trouble.

Give your dog search activities. Have him search for his meals. Hide that stuffed kong and teach him to ‘find it’. Sprinkle his food around in the grass and let him use his scavenger nose to find it. More time spent working = more stimulation = more fatigue (a tired dog is a good dog). Predatory and scavenging activities are being used for good rather than evil.

Our dogs are also our students and our friends. It’s up to us to teach them what they need to know to live harmoniously with humans. It is important that we learn how to do this as gently and humanely as possible..without force. To have a friend we need to be a friend.